Machine for cutting stick-candy



( No Model.)

I T. HOUGH.

' MACHINE FOR CUTTING STICK CANDY.

No. 567,392. I Patented Sept." 8, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' THOMAS HOUGH, or MIINOIE, INDIANA.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING STICK-CANDY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 567,392, dated September 8, 1896. Application filed June 17, 1896.- Serial No. 595,901. (No model.)

To all whom itmay concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS Houcn', a citi zen of the United States, residing at Muncie, in the county of Delaware and the State of Indiana, have inventedcertain new and useful I Improvements in Machines for Cutting Stick- Candy 5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for cutting stickcandy up into small pieces of a size required for making mixed candies, and the object of the invention is to provide a machine that will be inexpensive to manufacture, simple in its construction, that can be set to cut different-sized pieces, and that will cut the candy rapidly without breaking it up into crumbs, and with such a small expenditure of power that it can be operated by hand.

I accomplish the objects of the invention by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in perspective of my complete machine, showing all of the magazine-tubes full of candy except the near one, which is about to be filled with the stick, which is shown above it. showing the end of the machine where the candy is cut, in plan view. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of Fig. 2 on the line 3 3 of said figure, and Fig. 4.- is a vertical cross-section of Fig. 2 on the 'line i 4 of said Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 7

A is the bed or frame of the machine, which is supported bythe fourlegs A The machine is designed to be fastened to the top of a table bymeans of the bolts or screws a, which pass through the feet of the legs into the table. A are flanges, preferably integral with the bed, which form guides for the reciprocating head B. The head B consists of the cast-iron body part B, notched at each end to engage the flanges A and the steel cutting-plate O, which is bolted onto the upper face of the body B. The ends of the plate 0 project over onto the flanges A and Fig. 2 is a detail assist the body B in holding the head B on the guides. A

D is a crank-shaft mounted on the bearings d on the frame A. It is connected with the head B by means of the pitman E, whereby the head will be reciprocated when the crank is rotated. V

D is a fly-wheel mounted on one end of the crank, and the other end of the crank is provided with the small sprocket-wheel F. A large sprocket-wheel G is mounted near the opposite end of the machine from the crank and is connected with the wheel F by means of the chain belt H. The wheel G' is provided with a handle. by which power is applied to the wheel and thence transmitted to the crank to actuate the reciprocating head. A series of tubes I, arranged in arow diagonally across the machine above the reciprocating head and so the plate 0 will pass under each one of the tubes at the end of each outward stroke, are provided. The tubes are open at both ends and are each filled with a stick of candy c', which drop down by their own weight across the path of the plate C and rest on the horizontal bar J. This bar can be raised and lowered, and affords means thereby for determining the length of the pieces of candy to be cut off. Depending lugs a. are formed on the under side of the bed of the machine and slotted earsj, integral with the bar J, are provided. Bolts passing through the slot in the ears j and through the lugs a aflord means for adjusting the position of the bar J. The tubes I are held together by the perforated plates K, through which the tubes are pro jected, and the vertical rods K. The lower ends of the rods are screw-threaded and screw into threaded openings in the frame A. A lock-nut lckeeps the bolt from working loose. Between the lower one of the plates K and the frame A is a steel plate M, with openings which register with the openings in the tubes.

the machine, I will make the bevel on the upper side of the plate. To still further assist in the discharge of the out candy from under the tubes, (this being the source of great annoyance to me before these features now being described Were provided,) I form the abrupt edge I) on the body B, so as to act as a pusher to force the pieces on and out of the Way. The discharge is also assisted by inclining the bar J so its surface will slope outwardly in the direction for the candy pieces to travel. A chute N, of any suitable construction, receives the pieces and carries them down into any suitable receptacle. I are arranged diagonally instead of parallel with the cutting edge of the plate '0, in ord 'er to divide the intervals of contact, so the sticks will be cut off one at a time instead of all at once. This makes it easier on the operator and on the machine.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and Wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, 'is' 1. In a machine for cutting stick-candy, a reciprocating cutter having its upper "edge beveled and having an abrupt under side shoulder, in combination with a series of tubes to receive the sticks of candy and The tubes ranged diagonally With relation to the edge of the cutter, a plate With openings countersunk from above placed between the lower ends of the tubes and the cutter and a cross bar under the tubes to hold up the candy sticks While they are being cut, all substantially as described an'd specified.

2. In a candy-cutting machine, the combination with aframe A having the flanges A the crank D mounted on the frame and hav ing the fly-Wheel D and the small sprocket- Wheel F, the head B connected with the crank by means of the pitman E, said head being constructed of the base B and the cutter O I and operating substantially as described, of the tubes 1, frame consisting or the plates K and rods K, the plate ll lh'avi'ng countersunk openings as described, the bar J having the slotted ears for the purposes of adjustment and 

